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Ancient Greek Theatre
Where/when it all began…
► The
Greek theatre (AE theater) or Greek
drama is a theatrical tradition that
flourished in ancient Greece between c. 550
and c. 220 BC.
► Early tradition holds that drama and comedy
evolved from the dithyramb, the songs, folk
tales and dances offered to Dionysus, the
Greek god of fertility and wine.
Who were the players of
Greek theatre?

The plays had a chorus of up to 51people, who
performed the plays in verse accompanied by
music. The performance space was a simple halfcircular space, the orchestra, where the chorus
danced and sang. The orchestra, which had an
average diameter of 78 feet, was situated on a
flattened terrace at the foot of a hill, the slope of
which produced a natural theatron, literally
"watching place". Later, the term "theatre" came to
be applied to the whole area of theatron, orchestra,
and skené. The choragos was the head chorus
member who could enter the story as a character
able to interact with the characters of a play.
The physical structure of the
theatre

The theatres were
originally built on
a very large scale
to accommodate
the large number
of people on stage,
as well as the large
number of people
in the audience, up
to fourteen
thousand.
Without microphones, how did they
hear???????

Mathematics played a
large role in the
construction of these
theatres, as their
designers had to able to
create acoustics in them
such that the actors'
voices could be heard
throughout the theatre,
including the very top row
of seats.
In, Out, and Behind the scenes
In 465 BC, the playwrights began using a backdrop or
scenic wall, which hung or stood behind the orchestra,
which also served as an area where actors could
change their costumes. It was known as the skené, or
scene.
 Greek theatres also had entrances for the actors and
chorus members called parodoi. The parodoi (plural
of parodos) were tall arches that opened onto the
orchestra, through which the performers entered.

Props

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There were several prop items commonly used in
Greek theatre:
machina, a crane that gave the impression of a flying
actor (thus, deus ex machina).
ekeclema, a wheeled wagon used to bring dead
characters into view for the audience
trap doors, or similar openings in the ground to lift
people onto the stage
Pinakes, pictures hung into the scene to show a
scene's scenery
Thyromata, more complex pictures built into the
second-level scene (3rd level from ground)
Behind the mask
The comedy and tragedy masks have their origin
in the theatre of ancient Greece. The masks were
used to show the emotions of the characters in a
play, and also to allow actors to switch between
roles and play characters of a different gender.
The earliest plays were called Satyrs; they were
parodies of myths.
Antigone by Sophocles
 Antigone is the best-
known daughter of
Oedipus and Jocasta.
 However, due to the
incestuous nature of
their relationship,
Antigone is also
Oedipus's half-sister
and Jocasta's
granddaughter.
Ancient greek burial rites
 The ancient Greeks had
distinct methods of
burial, and it was often
believed if you were
not provided a proper
burial along with the
appropriate rituals,
you were destined to
suffer between worlds
until your rites of
passage into the
underworld were
completed.
Sophocles takes a few liberties…
Sophocles covered the details of her life
and death in his Antigone and his Oedipus
at Colonus.
 Sophocles departed from the original
legend in the order of the events:
according to the original, the burial of
Polynices took place while Oedipus was
yet in Thebes, not after he had died at
Colonus.

Essence of the play


Antigone is a tragedy written before
or in 441 BC by Sophocles. It is
chronologically the third of the
three Theban plays but was written
first.
The important issue in the play is
the clash of values between Creon
and Antigone. Creon advocates
obedience to man-made laws while
Antigone stresses the higher laws of
duty to the gods and one's family.
Creon, the dramatic hero, only
realizes his mistake after he loses the
lives of all his family.
Characters to remember

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Antigone - The play's tragic heroine. In the first
moments of the play, Antigone is opposed to her
radiant sister Ismene.
Ismene – Quiet, subservient sister of Antigone; she
is willing to bend to Creon’s will.
Characters, continued
Creon – king who opposes Antigone on her decision to
bury her brother
Haemon - Antigone's young fiancé and son to Creon.
Haemon appears twice in the play. In the first, he is
rejected by Antigone; in the second, he begs his father
for Antigone's life.
Characters…
• The Chorus frames the play with a prologue and
epilogue, introducing the action and characters
under the sign of fatality.
• Polyneices and Eteocles do not appear directly in
the play, but their actions prior to the play’s
opening figure the play’s action.
Omega…